Le Defi Mark Ten International

Live strength athletics competitions had begun in the late 1970s as a distinct set of disciplines from other strength related sports such as powerlifting or Highland Games. However, the associations of the new phenomena with its sporting forebears resulted in certain countries being at the vanguard of such competitions. One such country with a deep rooted past in strongman competition was Canada, and in particular Quebec, referred to as a "cradle of strongmen".[1] In 1984 Jean-Claude Arsenault began to promote a competition named after the most famous of Quebec's strongmen of the past, Louis Cyr. The Louis Cyr Tournament was quickly a success and gained the sponsorship of a cigarette company resulting in its change of name to Defi Mark Ten.

The first outing of the competition caused some newspapers to claim that "Nationalism marred contest" citing the fact that Quebec was painted on the backdrop to the competition deliberately separate from Canada and grouped with France. Despite this, there was noted by the same newspaper an impressive camaraderie amongst the athletes.[1]

The event attracted the very top strength athletes in the world. Amongst these names were Bill Kazmaier, Magnus Ver Magnusson and Jon Pall Sigmarsson. The Canadian Tom Magee was the winner of the first three tournaments and the giant Mark Higgins has been cited as the final winner before the sponsorship ran out in 1992.[1] A final contest was reportedly held two years later, with Raimundas Zenkevicius claiming that title although sources differ.[2] In 2008 a competition called Fortissimus, founded by Paul Ohl, was staged in Canada which also claimed to be a tribute to the great Louis Cyr and was thus seen as the natural successor to the Defi Mark Ten International.

Year	Champion	Runner-Up	3rd Place	Location
1984	Tom Magee			Quebec City
1985	Tom Magee	Riku Kiri	Jón Páll Sigmarsson	Quebec City
1986	Tom Magee	Jón Páll Sigmarsson	Mark Higgins	Quebec City
1987	Bill Kazmaier	Mark Higgins	Robert Dubeau	Montreal
1988	Hjalti Árnason	Magnús Ver Magnússon	Tom Magee	Montreal
1989	Magnús Ver Magnússon			Montreal
1990	Mark Higgins	Bill Kazmaier	Magnús Ver Magnússon	Montreal
1991	Mark Higgins			Montreal
1992	Mark Higgins			Montreal

• Results from David Horne's World of Grip[2]

• List of strongman competitions